“We encouraged him to get a pet because we thought he seemed lonely,” Lidia said. “He never married, you know.”

Elodie glanced over. “Yes, well, not everyone gets married.”

They passed marshes and a long stone jetty. In the far distance, a small island with a lighthouse.

“You can walk the jetty all the way to Long Point,” Lidia said.

She looked out at the jetty. It seemed an unwise endeavor to traverse the uneven rocks out into the water as far as the eye could see. But people were apparently busy doing just that.

“How many miles is that?”

“Six,” said Lidia. “It goes surprisingly quickly. But when my kids were growing up I always warned them not to go out there after dark, and certainly not to go out after they’d been drinking. Just the thought of it kept me awake at night. I’m sure you can imagine.”

Actually, she couldn’t. Why did people always assume that just because she was a woman of a certain age she was also a mother? The only thing more irritating were the people who called her Mrs. Pavlin.

Lidia continued along Province Lands Road. A breeze blew off the salt water and Elodie inhaled. To their right, houses sat high on the grassy hilltops. The road became flanked by sand dunes. They passed a sign that read Entering Cape Cod National Seashore and reached a stretch where the side of the street was filled with dozens of parked bicycles.

“What’s that all about?” Elodie said.

“Oh, that’s just Boy Beach.”

What on earth was “boy beach”? She’d never heard of such a thing. Was she going to “girl beach”? Was there a “middle-aged woman beach”?

They turned in to a large parking lot and the ocean stretched out like a deep blue, undulating blanket. The sand was obscured behind tall seagrass and beach roses. Lidia pulled into a spot but didn’t turn off the engine.

“There’s the entry point to the beach—you’ll see a blue tarp path. Back there are the snacks and bathrooms. Have fun. Let me know if you need a ride back.”

“That’s very kind of you but I’ll get a cab later.”

“Give me a call if you change your mind. Oh—and you’re welcome to join us for dinner tonight. I’m just doing oysters and rice—very simple.”

Elodie thanked her, but she was distracted. Stepping out of the truck, watching Lidia drive away, something deep inside her felt off. Maybe it was the talk of marriage, of loneliness. She ignored it, getting Pearl hooked onto her leash and heading to the clearing where people entered the beach with their fold-up chairs and coolers.